Federal Jury Convicts Virginia Man for Cyberstalking and Communicating Interstate Threats

RALEIGH – Robert J. Higdon, Jr. United States Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, announces that on December 13, 2017 in Federal court, WILLIAM SCOTT DAVIS, JR., a 57-year-old resident of Hampton, Virginia, was convicted following a three-day trial before Senior United States District Judge W. Earl Britt.  The jury found DAVIS guilty of cyberstalking and communicating interstate threats.

The evidence at trial showed that DAVIS’ parental rights to his daughter were conclusively terminated in 2009, following protacted litigation with authorities in Wake County, where DAVIS was residing at the time.  During the same time period, DAVIS was charged with multiple fraud offenses in Wake County relating to the forgery of his daughter’s birth certificate and convicted by a jury of his peers.  Following the termination of his parental rights and his state fraud conviction in 2009, DAVIS initiated a relentless campaign of harassment and intimidation directed towards a female detective with Cary Police Department, a female prosecutor with the Wake County District Attorney’s Office, and a female attorney in Raleigh for their roles in different aspects of the process.  The evidence at trial established that in the summer of 2014, DAVIS sharply escalated his campaign to include email communications sent from Virginia to all three women in North Carolina which contained detailed threats of violence and rape.  In addition, DAVIS stalked the Raleigh attorney by threatening her life and the lives of her family, as well as impersonating an FBI agent.

Mr. Higdon said: “The proper functioning of our social services and judicial systems requires that all its participants - prosecutors, law enforcement officers, and attorneys - be free from threats and harm.  Our systems cannot function where those participants face threats, intimidation or the real risk of harm.  This case is an example of the steps the United States Department of Justice and the United States Attorney’s Office will take when these public servants face these risks.  Make no mistake, we will stand firmly behind our fellow prosecutors and our law enforcement and social services partners!”

The case was investigated by the Raleigh Police Department and the Federal Burean of Investigation.  Assistant United States Attorneys Ethan A. Ontjes and Adam F. Hulbig represented the government in this case.